liberate

verb

1. 1

   Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release.

   Thus ſitting and ſurveying thus at eaſe / The globe and its concerns, I ſeem advanced / To ſome ſecure and more than mortal height, / That lib'rates and exempts me from them all.

   [T]he prisoner being liberate in manner foresaid, it shall not be lawful to put or detain him in prison for the same crime, under the penalty of wrongous imprisonment, […]

   This is not a time for telling stories, when I am in this prison; but when thou liberatest me, I will relate to thee their case.

   Walking slow to beating bosom surest solace soonest gives, / Liberates the brain o'erloaded—best of all restoratives.

2. 2

   Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. To free (someone or something) from discriminatory or oppressive attitudes, inhibition, or restraint.

   You need to free your mind and liberate yourself from prejudice.

   [A] little philosophy liberates our sex from the tyranny of custom, teaches us to disdain hypocrisy, and to glory in the simplicity of truth.

   They [the missionaries] liberated woman and made her the equal of man.

   Jeeves: Foreign travel often liberates emotions best kept in check, sir. The air of North America is notoriously stimulating in this regard, as witness the regrettable behavior of its inhabitants in 1776. / Bertie Wooster: Hm? What happened in 1776, Jeeves? / Jeeves: I prefer not to dwell on it, if it's convenient to you, sir.

3. 3

   Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. To release (someone) from slavery; to manumit.

4. 4

   Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. To free (a place such as a country, or the residents thereof) from an occupying force, or from oppression such as unjust rule.

   All your Italian friends must be starving now that we have "liberated" them.

   I announced that I was leaving with the two-and-a-half filled with with all of the automatic weapons from both camps plus all the plastique explosive, related equipment, and the pistols. They were to be used, I explained, in parts of France where the war was still going on, by Frenchmen who were still fighting to liberate their country from the Germans.

5. 5

   Often followed by from: to allow or cause (someone or something) to be free; to set free, to release. To cause (energy or a substance) to be released through a chemical reaction or physical decomposition.

   Since the reaction liberates a large amount of chlorine gas, a powerful ventilation system is recommended.

6. 6

   informalTo take (property belonging to someone else) by force or theft; to loot, to rob, to steal.

   We didn’t need IDs. We just liberated these beers from the back of the shop.

   All members of the Black Guard must be willing to perform acts of violence before they are nominated. I had proven myself, when I was required to liberate (steal) dynamite, steal cars for robberies, and to perform disciplinary action against party members.

   He was trying to liberate some funds for the revolution from a liquor store, and he got caught. It was his first time out, and he got flat-ass caught.

   For expedience, he intended to use his talents to liberate a few choice bottles from the wine cellars without going through the difficulty of a formal requisition.

verb

1. 1

   Variant of liberatedobsoleteObsolete form of liberated (past participle of liberate).

adjective

1. 1

   obsoleteFreed, released; free.

   The Papiſts make advantage of the Ceremonies, and thereby confirme themſelves in Popery. […] If vve vvere liberate from the Ceremonies, then might vve doe more againſt the Papiſts, and they ſhould not inſult as they doe.

   [I]n place of eſtablishing true Chriſtian Liberty, vvhich you ſeem here to aſſert, it is evident, that you go about plainly to ſet up, an abſolute Spiritual tyranny, over the Church of God, and ſo load it vvith the Ceremonies, and innovations, a bondage more ſevere then the old diſpenſation, from vvhich vve are liberate; […]

noun

1. 1

   historicalA writ issued out of the Chancery to authorize the Exchequer to pay a debt, pension, etc., on behalf of the Crown.

   Now (for an ende of Bailement) I will ſhewe you one forme of a Baile, and an other of a Liberate.

2. 2

   historicalA writ issued to a jailer to release a prisoner on bail.

   VVith us they conſent in the Sufficiency of the Scriptures to ſalvation, in denying the Infallibility of the Church (much more of the Pope) the overplus of Merits, Service ununderſtood, Indulgencies, Liberaties out of Purgatorie, and the like.

   For the more remote counties it was found sufficient to show the Patent to the under-sheriffs, when they came up to London to the Michaelmas law-term, and to prepare for their use a liberate, covering the prisoners in each gaol.

3. 3

   historicalA writ issued to a sheriff to release property (goods or land) from their custody.

   [G]oods taken upon an extent sued out upon a statute staple, before the bankruptcy of the debtor, through the goods are not delivered to the creditor by the sheriff upon a liberate until after the bankruptcy, may be held by the creditor against the commissioners under the bankruptcy.

Forms

plural

liberates

past tense

liberated

past participle

liberated

present participle

liberating

third person singular

liberates